Thursday, March 20, 2014

12 Years a Slave

A review of the movie made from the book by Solomon Northup

Initially
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing the film 12
Years a Slave.I knew the film would
be a gruesome depiction of the institution of chattel slavery that would be
difficult to watch.However, I also knew
that within that film there would be a biography of someone who had a unique
story to tell.

When
we went to high school, we probably learned something about the Civil War.We might have learned that about the 600,000
soldiers who perished in that war.We
might have learned that General William Tecumseh Sherman, in his march through
the Confederate states, ordered most of the buildings he could find burned to
the ground.The question is: Why did all
this happen?

The
film 12 Years a Slave gives an
excellent answer to that question.In
Solomon Northup’s book written in 1853, he summarized his years in
slavery.He said that when he was made a
slave he had “reached the threshold of unutterable wrong, and sorrow, and despair.”

Unlike
most slaves Northup had not been raised as a slave.He had a wife and three children.He was a carpenter and also earned money
playing the violin.Although he never
had a lot of money, Northup understood clearly that his life as a slave was
totally different from his life as a paid worker.

The
most compelling reasons for the Civil War will not be found in the thousands of
history books written on this subject.No, when we look at the biographies of people like Solomon Northup, this
is where we learn the real reasons for that war.

We
can look at the book and film of Alex Haley’s family titled Roots.We can also look at the biographies or autobiographies of Frederick
Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, and Denmark Vessey.When we look at the world through the eyes of
these heroes of our history, then we can understand why there was immense
destruction during the Civil War.

The legacy of slavery in the United States

We
also might consider that the same political party that ran the slave system, as
well as the system of Jim Crow segregation, is the Democratic Party.Given the enormous amount of destruction this
party has been responsible for, it is amazing that it wasn’t abandoned a long
time ago.

One
of the most difficult horrors Solomon Northup experienced was his separation
from his family.Today, the United
States government has a policy of separating people from their families through
the so-called criminal justice system and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Michelle
Alexander documented how the government targets Black people for imprisonment
in her book, The New Jim Crow – Mass
Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.The theme of Alexander’s book is to point out that Black people are
grossly over-represented in the dungeons of this country.

We
might consider that Solomon Northup was placed in solitary confinement for a
few days in an attempt to break him of his will to be free.Today there are entire Supermax prisons that
confine inmates in solitary confinement for years as a time.

1,000 deportations per day

The
Presidential Administration of Barrack Obama has been deporting people from the
United States at a rate of about 1,000 per day.This amounts to about 30,000 deportations per month, compared to the
20,000 per month under the administration of President George Bush.

Thousands
of those who were deported are the parents of children who were born in the
United States.When the I.N.S. sends
these parents to other countries the children are sent to foster homes.When the I.N.S. separates children from their
parents, how are they different from the slave catchers of Solomon Northup’s
day?

We
might also consider that today about 40% of the world’s population lives on
about two dollars per day or less.When
someone is deported from this country there is a good likelihood that they will
live in conditions where the salary is about two dollars per day.Are these conditions significantly different
from the conditions of slavery experienced by Solomon Northup?

Most
immigrants come to this country from Mexico.The facts are that the entire South-West of this country was stolen from
Mexico through means of war.The Mexican
people are mostly of Native American descent.This means that the ancestors of the Mexican people where the first ones
to inhabit this part of the world.

What are the roles Hollywood gives to Black people?

The
film 12 Years a Slave won the Oscar
for the Best Picture of the Year.Chiwetel Ejiofor should have won the award for best actor for his
portrayal of Solomon Northup.Lupita
Nyong’o won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as a slave who
was viciously beaten and raped.

Certainly
I’m glad that this film was made and should be seen by anyone who is interested
in our history.However, we might list
the biographies of heroic Black people who have not received attention from
Hollywood.These biographies would
include: Frederick Douglass, Martin Robinson Delany, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B.
Dubois, Marcus Garvey, Ida Wells, Toussaint L’Overture, and Antonio Maceo.

On
the other hand, Halle Berry did receive the Oscar for Best Actress for her role
in the film Monster’s Ball.Berry portrayed the wife of a Black man
who was executed while in prison.Berry’s character was also the mother of a son who died in a car accident
because he needed to walk home in the rain.

Denzel
Washington won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the film Training Day.Washington’s role in this film was of a
corrupt LAPD narcotics officer.Washington should have also won an Oscar for his role of Ruben
“Hurricane” Carter, who served twenty years in prison on framed-up murder
charges.I also felt that Washington
gave a wonderful performance in one of my favorite films, The Great Debaters.

Danny
Glover is attempting to make a movie about the Haitian revolutionary leader
Toussaint L’Overture, but he has had difficulty in getting funding for the
project.Indeed, Spike Lee needed
independent funding to make his film about the life of Malcolm X, titled X.

Today
we can all be glad that the conditions Solomon Northup experienced as a slave
no longer exist for most people in this country.However, when we understand the naked reality
in the world today, it is clear that we don’t experience freedom.

My
opinion is that the reason why the films 12
Years a Slave, and Roots have
been so popular, is because working people today can identify with slaves who
yearn to be free.Genuine freedom is
something we are all still struggling to achieve.

About Me

I am the author of the novel "Looking Back From 2101." My novel imagines a future world where poverty and discrimination are no longer a part of the human condition. My blog contains articles and poems that I've written over the years. Many of my poems are biographies of historical figures who I have found to be inspiring.